Schedule changes and a variety of health updates mark Colorado's return to action

When a team gets a league-mandated week break from playing, you expect there to be plenty of news when they return to the ice.

That was certainly the case today for the Colorado Avalanche.

As no new players were added to the Covid protocol list for the team today, they were cleared to return to practice in the afternoon. This also means barring something changing last minute, they will resume their schedule and play the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night at 6 PM MST.

There is so much Avs news to get to that the best way to break it down might be to do it individually. That means the news returns…in bullet form!

• Mikko Rantanen was added to the Covid Protocol list this week, but unlike other players, he did not test positive. Instead, he was placed on protocol due to contact tracing. That means if he passes a few Covid tests in the coming days, he is an option to join the team on their road trip. That’s better than the usual 10-day quarantine that most players are going through.
• Philipp Grubauer and Joonas Donskoi, however, remain in the protocol, and their return is more up in the air as they will have to finish quarantining and then get back into game shape to get on the ice. It sounds like with Grubauer, they may give him a little more time to get up and running before getting him back in net.
• Bowen Byram is no longer on the Covid protocol list but did not skate today. Instead, he worked off ice with the staff. At this point, the Avs are looking at all options with Byram, as he’s only been able to play in four games since February 27. Those options may include an AHL conditioning stint to get him back up and running, but nothing is finalized at this point.
• The break did help two injured players: Patrik Nemeth and Logan O’Connor. Nemeth is healthy and will suit up for the Avs tomorrow for the first time since being acquired at the trade deadline. O’Connor skated in a normal practice jersey and will be an option for the team on the upcoming road trip if things continue to progress.
• With the Avs leaving on a four-game road trip, and multiple players entering Covid protocol, moves to the roster were made. Jayson Megna was returned to the Eagles, while the Avs recalled Adam Werner, Miikka Salomaki, Keaton Middleton, and yes, Martin Kaut to the taxi squad.
• The big name there is obviously Martin Kaut. After playing in one game earlier in the season, he missed a good amount of time due to injury, but in 12 AHL games has scored 13 points. Bednar mentioned that he is an option to play this weekend, and they wouldn’t have called him up if that was not the case. I would venture to guess that he will get his opportunity to show he can be valuable depth down the stretch and shoot for a full time spot next season with the coming cap crunch.

The other big news to come today was some reschedules for the games that were missed. That included moving a Vegas game to the end of the year so that they could stay in St. Louis a little longer to make travel easier. Those moves look like this…

• The Avs/Blues game scheduled for 4/20 has now been moved to 4/26.
• The Avs/Vegas game that was scheduled for 4/26 has been moved to 5/10.
• The Avs/Kings games that got postponed from 4/16 and 4/18 will now be played on 5/12 and 5/13.

Okay, that was a lot of news. Get a good night’s sleep and rest up, as the Avs hit the ice again Thursday in St. Louis.